Faster Wi-Fi at Starbucks?

Does your Starbucks barista work way faster than your laptop? Good news: The company is planning to speed up its Wi-Fi connections.

Working with Google rather than current provider AT&T, all company-owned stores in the U.S. will be upgraded over the next 18 months, according to Google.

“When your local Starbucks Wi-Fi network goes Google, you’ll be able to surf the web at speeds up to 10x faster than before. If you’re in a Google Fiber city, we’re hoping to get you a connection that’s up to 100x faster.”

According to Mashable, “Starbucks stores are currently equipped with T1 lines, which have data speeds of about 1.5 megabits per second. Adam Brotman, chief digital officer for Starbucks, tells Mashable that Starbucks is working with Google and Level 3 Communications to upgrade each store with a variety of solutions — including DSL, cable modems and multiple T1s — depending on what’s appropriate.”

Readers had complained about slow wi-fi in a Starbucks Gossip post last year titled “Starbucks/AT&T want to make sure you have the world’s worst Internet experience,” though some employees and customers in the comments blamed the delays on large numbers of customers streaming music, videos, and movies. (One claimed he’d even seen an Xbox.)

“Not going to lie, but sometimes I wish people would treat Starbucks like the cafe it was meant to be: enjoy your coffee, socialize with friends, meet up and cultivate relationships,” one wrote.

About us

Bethany Jean Clement is The Seattle Times food writer. Her writing has also appeared in Best Food Writing, Food & Wine, Gourmet.com, Beard House, Town & Country, Edible Seattle, The Stranger and more. Follow her on Twitter: @BJeanClement.